A Bunch of Great $$$ Resources โœจ (Fire Meetups, Curation Sites, #VanLife, More)

Morning!

Been helping a few readers find some things around the community and thought Iโ€™d share them with you too in case they help :)

One was looking for ways to connect with other like-minded people in the space, another was wondering if any other sites out there stream RSS feeds like we did back in the Rockstar Finance days, and then anotherโ€™s about to head out on a massive road trip so I shot her a bunch of great articles around #VanLife to help inspire her.

I also needed some help myself for good bookkeeping services out there as mine is shutting down, so Iโ€™ll list the recs people shot over to me as well here at the endโ€ฆ

While Iโ€™m at it, Iโ€™ll also point out that Iโ€™ve added a bunch of resources around this blog too in the top menu bar, so be sure to click around there every now and then as Iโ€™m constantly adding and re-organizing things from the past 14+ years ๐Ÿ‘

Here are shortcuts to some of them if youโ€™re reading this in email or RSS yourself:

Alright, now onto some helpful links for whoever else might need them!

A bunch of great meet up communities

For those looking to connect both online, and off, to other like-minded people in our space:

  • Camp FI โ€” in-person retreats that โ€œfosters genuine relationships across the FI community that encourage us to live financially independent and happy lives.โ€
  • FIREList: Meetups โ€” a list of FIRE meetups from California to Colorado to Massachusetts and in between
  • Choose FI Community โ€” host to both online and in-person local FIRE meetups
  • Mr. Money Mustache Forums / Meetups โ€” host to both online and in-person local โ€œMustachianโ€ meetups

Inspiring articles around travel and #VanLife

Here was the note from my friend that spurred this: โ€œIโ€™m planning an epic road trip before I turn 35 and my husband turns 40. Thinking about renting a campervan and just driving around from national park to national park. Hopefully, Iโ€™ll have the courage to document this adventure and turn it into mini family vlog. I feel like itโ€™s better to start recording our lives instead of just through photography.โ€

I agree!! Never know what opportunities can come from documenting things โ€“ I surely didnโ€™t know it would go on to become a new career for me! :) I sent her a bunch of links around this (travel, not documenting), in hopes it would inspire her. That first one is pretty epic and a great overall blog too:

Sites that have streaming RSS feeds

A blogger friend was reminiscing about our old โ€œFeedsโ€ page we had at Rockstar Finance back in the day, where alllllll new blog posts that were published around the community would show up in *real time* and โ€œstreamโ€ down a main page so you can see all new stuff as it comes out, and he was saying he wished something like that still existed.

I poked around a little bit and was quite surprised to see that it still does! Hereโ€™s a bunch of sites doing this around our space if you found this feature helpful too:

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apex money logo

Also something fun to report here: Iโ€™ll be joining the team of curators over at Apex Money starting next week helping them find and share more great articles in the space :)

Itโ€™s in conjunction with the Plutus Foundation โ€“ our community org. โ€“ and the hope is to promote more bloggersโ€™ content alongside the great main street articles that Apex tends to share. Should be a fun new way to spread eyeballs around more on the good stuff out there! Keep your eyes open for it!

www.ApexMoney.com

Lastly, hereโ€™s a bunch of recommended accounting software from business owners in our community:

I โ€˜d been using โ€“ and very much enjoying! โ€“ a company called Outright that got bought out by Go Daddy a few years ago, but sadly they announced theyโ€™re shutting it down this month so itโ€™s time to look for something new. I hit up all my social channels for some good recs, and below were the main ones that came up in order of how many people recommended them.

  • Wave โ€” โ€œSimple bookkeeping and payment solutions for small business ownersโ€ (FREE to use their accounting/invoicing system โ€“ Costs $$$ if you accept payments or do payroll through them. This was by far the most raved about company from my friends, and also looks SUPER easy to use โ€“ just like Outright was.)
  • QuickBooks โ€” โ€œTools to help your business thrive: auto-track income and expenses, pay employees and contractors, always know where you stand.โ€ ($12.50-$90/mo. Much more robust than Wave and others out there it looks like, but also maybe overkill if you just need something simple?)
  • Xero โ€” โ€œOnline accounting software for your business that connects you to your bank, accountant, bookkeeper, and other business apps.โ€ (30 day free trial, then $12-$65/mo. Iโ€™ve heard good things about them over the years and believe theyโ€™re another more *robust* one)
  • Freshbooks โ€” โ€œA preferred invoicing and accounting software for over 30 million users, small business owners, and accountants worldwide.โ€ (30 day free trial, then $4.50-15+/mo. This one looks like a beefed up Wave off first look, and Iโ€™ve also heard about them more than any others up there over the years so that probably says something!)
  • *NEW* Zipbooks โ€” โ€œSimple accounting software that makes you even smarter.โ€ (Free โ€“ $30+/mo. Submitted by Rachel D. โ€“ โ€œLike Wave, their free version is pretty usable, but you can accept payments without a subscription! Basic subscription is $15./mo and they partner with Gusto for payroll.โ€

Iโ€™m going to start testing with Wave first because everything I need is FREE there (!) and so many people raved about them, and then if that doesnโ€™t work out Iโ€™ll move to Freshbooks and then after that just go old school again if needed and track everything in a spreadsheetโ€ฆ Something I did for the first half of my blogging career and does work, but I may have gotten too spoiled by automation and pretty reporting now to go back ๐Ÿ˜‚

UPDATE: Just got this note from a reader too if anyoneโ€™s interested: โ€œHey J. Money โ€“ I started a bookkeeping business 6 years ago after leaving the corporate world โ€“ with a little help (push) from you many years ago and have been doing amazingly. Itโ€™s just my wife and I and I love it. Iโ€™d be happy to help you out or anyone else you might think needs something. I have over 20 years in the accounting industry reaching the CFO of a $100MM company. Decided years ago to get out of the corporate world and away from the BS that it brings and it was the best decision I have made professionally for myself and my family. Let me know if youโ€™d like to talk or if I can be of any assistance.โ€ If youโ€™re interested, shoot me a note and I will forward it over for you ๐Ÿ‘

Hope this helps! And thanks to everyone for hooking me up!

See ya back here on Monday,

j. money signature

PS: If youโ€™re a fan of something we missed here, let me know and Iโ€™ll add it to the list!

PPS: How are these Monday and Thursday postings feeling to you guys? Itโ€™s really weird only doing two a week and feels like the opposite of hustling, haha, but itโ€™s also keeping me nice and calm and letting me breathe throughout the week so it does seem to be working at least on this end :) Iโ€™ll keep monitoring it and see if we need to adjust, but just wanted to check in with yโ€™all too and gauge thoughts. Thanks!

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18 Comments

  1. Blaine June 30, 2022 at 10:25 AM

    Yo J Money!!

    So good to have you back! I have been meaning to send a note, sorry it took a while. Your posts have been great and Iโ€™m liking the 2 days a week
    Iโ€™ve always appreciated your content. Practical and inspiring! Keep rockinโ€™ it and Iโ€™ll keep reading it!!
    Happy Summer to you:)
    Cheers
    Blaine
    Prince George BC, Canada

    1. J. Money June 30, 2022 at 5:33 PM

      Thx Blaine! Happy Summer (and savings!) to you as well!

  2. Mitchell Walker June 30, 2022 at 11:17 AM

    Man it is good to have you back! Iโ€™m so glad to see you are once again dispensing your financial knowledge in a one of a kind quirky, enjoyable & addictive manor!

    1. J. Money June 30, 2022 at 5:33 PM

      Thanks Mitchell โ€“ glad it still comes across okay after taking years off :) Was a bit afraid i couldnโ€™t get into the groove again, but so far feeling pretty good!

  3. Destiny June 30, 2022 at 11:24 AM

    I still use Digit! I am up to $88k!

    1. J. Money June 30, 2022 at 5:31 PM

      Holy $hit!!

      What are you going to do with all that money??

  4. kim June 30, 2022 at 11:42 AM

    Your emails/blog is so easy to read and take action. Iโ€™ve missed that and am loving two days a week. Glad to hear from you again. Tanks for all the great advice and tips.

    1. J. Money June 30, 2022 at 5:31 PM

      Awesome โ€“ thx, Kim!

      Appreciate the feedback! :)

  5. Impersonal Finances July 1, 2022 at 3:08 AM

    Very helpful on the curation sites! It does seem like there used to be more of this kind of stuff (before I had a site of my own!). There are a couple on there that I wasnโ€™t aware of. Hopefully they are in the market for once or twice per month content from a part-timer like myself!

    Loving the return of Budgets Are Sexy!

    1. J. Money July 1, 2022 at 5:15 PM

      thanks dude!!

      yeah โ€“ they should be paying attention to *ALL* sites out there! at least if theyโ€™re good curators ;) maybe youโ€™ll have to write something spicy to get their attention though?

  6. Paul July 1, 2022 at 10:55 AM

    Cool you are joining Apex. GRS was the first blog I started reading back in the day before it was originally sold, then repurchasedโ€ฆ I feel like I heard about something like that happening recentlyโ€ฆ. what site was that again??? :) Please donโ€™t burn yourself out though, this community needs J.Money.

    1. J. Money July 1, 2022 at 5:13 PM

      Haha, thanks manโ€ฆ

      JD is in the process of redesigning his site too to be more minimal! or as he calls it โ€“ โ€œDedesigningโ€โ€ฆ

      guess we both just canโ€™t stay away for too long :)

  7. Caro July 1, 2022 at 1:20 PM

    Hey man I am happy with whatever frequency your soul and body have to give. I always exit reading your thoughts with a little lift in my soul.

    1. J. Money July 1, 2022 at 5:11 PM

      oh gosh โ€“ thatโ€™s the best compliment a guy can get, thank you!

      i might have to print that last line out and put it where I can see it every day, hahaโ€ฆ

  8. Kevin Martin July 1, 2022 at 3:31 PM

    Great list of resources. Iโ€™ve been using Wave for business expenses for years. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to organize business expenses/income for businesses of any size.

    1. J. Money July 1, 2022 at 5:10 PM

      Rock on, thx!! Excited to try them out once Iโ€™m back from the beach.

  9. Dave July 28, 2022 at 11:57 PM

    I have a small business and my bookkeeping is super simple โ€” so simple that I can enter a yearโ€™s worth of transactions in about an hour.

    Iโ€™ve been using Quickbooks since 2000 so I donโ€™t really want to switch to a different program (tried Wave and Xero โ€” wasnโ€™t a fan), but I hate the idea of paying a monthly subscription. My โ€œhackโ€ is to pay for only one month per year for their service. In mid-Dec I activate my account and pay for a month, enter all my transactions, then have my accountant grab a copy of my books once Iโ€™m done. Once she has a copy, I cancel my plan. Quickbooks keeps data for a year while cancelled, so there is no data loss (can still log in and view all reports, just canโ€™t make any changes). ~92% yearly discount for Quickbooks :)

    1. J. Money July 29, 2022 at 10:23 AM

      Oh jeez, hahaโ€ฆ thatโ€™s certainly a hack!

      Wave has been doing the trick just fine for me so farโ€ฆ It doensnโ€™t connect to Paypal which surprised me, but the rest has been pretty smooth and easy so Iโ€™m gonna stick with it for nowโ€ฆ. (and no hacking necessary as itโ€™s 100% free!)